Movie Industry and the Theatre destruction

I am sure most of us enjoy the movies for the stories and to have a brief time to escape our modern life.

But I recently went to the movie Serienty.. I expected the obligary previews before the movie started.. but to my suprise.. I found Three commercials for Coca-Cola products, A car ad for Honda, A car ad for Lexus, A ad for Dove soap, and a Advertisement for a upcomming mini-series on Lifetime network.

This bothered me a little bit because if I want to watch Commercials.. I would have stay home and watched TV... But now (Carmike Cinemas here, but I have found them in other theatre chains) the movie theatres are allowing commercials to be placed in before the movie. Sometimes with previews and commercials.. you go at least 10-20 mins after a scheduled start time of a movie.

The movie theatre chains claim this keeps the ticket prices down.. but There is no correlation of this in any of their sales data according to a segment on the Montley Fool Radio show. They can not explain how ticket prices are off-set by commercials and some of the economists that examine this trend are saying that the chains allow it for pure profit at the behest of time of the movie watching public.

With Hollywood being in a slump for movies. seeing that they keep revising old TV shows (Bewitched, Dukes of Hazzards, etc) and not having the large theatre crowds making them the money they once demanded.. Is the movie industry heading for a fall as they keep trying to maintain profits on their customers?

Its just food for thought..

I think that the American movie industry as we know it is dying. I haven't went to a movie in about a year. Last movie I saw was the last Star Wars, and I'd give that 2.5/5.

There's very little that's original or worthwhile anymore. Now they're just remaking and re-releasing pratically everything.

I really don't care about the ads, because the movies following them don't seem to be that worthwhile anymore.

Originally posted by kitanis


The movie theatre chains claim this [commercials] keeps the ticket prices down...

Down from what? An arm and a leg? Your first born? Indentured servitude? I don't mind taking a date to a movie once in a while. Let's face it dating is all about spending money, but to do so more than infrequently is utterly preposterous. The tickets are too expensive, the movies are too long and the concessions are nothing less than highway robbery.

I prefer the home theatre experience, by far.

Home theater, yep Grady
the new market..
Direct marketing movies to your Mailbox...First releases too..
nobody talking, no cell phones...Invite your friends...Crank up the THX, or Dolby, or whatever you have....enjoy..
If you do it right, you really can bring home the theater experience.
And popcorn is only a buck or less.

I suspect, that even Commercial theaters may downsize...Maybe you could call them "microtheatres" For those who have yet to purchase their own home setup..

But even with DVD, they have discs now where you HAVE to let it run through previes and ads before the movie you PURCHACED will play. (Fortunately, I think it's mostly new movies, of which most will probably suck.)

Originally posted by Toxic Fox
But even with DVD, they have discs now where you HAVE to let it run through previes and ads before the movie you PURCHACED will play. (Fortunately, I think it's mostly new movies, of which most will probably suck.)

Very true Toxic Fox....thats when I go to the kitchen and pop the corn!
I do like to see whats coming out next though..so the previews are ok with me..
commercials..thats a different story..

When you own a movie, you have these several year old trailers you have to fast forward through to watch your movie and if it's a DVD, you're just stuck. Retreating to somewhere is you only option, but it's not fair to subject a movie owner to an eternity of previews to "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo"

Re: Deuce Bigalo

Maybe someday Rob Schneider will be run over by a semi-truck.

Then backed-over by the same truck.

Then run over again.

Then run over by a steamroller.

Then have a 500-pound bomb be accidentally dropped on him from an F-117A.

Hopefully, he'd make a full recovery with minimal injuries.

You know what Grady?
I even like the old trailers...I get a laugh out of some of those. Especially a super hyped movie, that ended up bombing at the box office. I find a little humour in that..